Per Electronista, Apple’s long rumored CDMA iPhone has been given a codename according to sources close to the story. The device is now known internally as N92 and is already at the Engineer Validation Test (EVT) stage. As just a step before the Design Validation Test (DVT) stage like that of the stolen iPhone 4, its progress is appropriate for the often-rumored January Verizon launch.

There are no guarantees the CDMA model will ultimately ship or necessarily that it will reach Verizon. Apple could reach Sprint, US Cellular and most other smaller carriers in the U.S., and it could be intended primarily for international carriers like China Telecom or some Latin American providers. With 92.1 million subscribers, however, Verizon is usually considered the largest CDMA carrier and would almost certainly be the primary target.

Apple is now believed to have had a change of heart on CDMA. Where it once described the standard as “dead” since a clear majority of cellular networks use GSM and HSPA, the company has reconsidered after recognizing length of time to transition to LTE for 4G and, more importantly, the threat of Android. Verizon is the world’s largest Android carrier and has helped Google thrive with HTC and Motorola phones being “safe” from Apple.

Analysts believe a Verizon iPhone could flatten Android as some customers may only be choosing Android as AT&T’s network quality and the cost of switching carriers discourage them from jumping networks to get an iPhone. While AT&T has tried to minimize the risk of losing customers, others have anticipated that AT&T could lose tens or hundreds of thousands of customers almost immediately.

Per Kotaku, id Software’s John Carmack demonstrated Rage on the iPhone 4 handset at QuakeCon 2010. The title, which ran at 60 frames-per-second, allowed Carmack to “kill anything done on the Xbox or PlayStation 2.”

The demo incorported id’s Tech 5 engine and could easily run on the 3GS with the visuals rivaling anything from the PlayStation 2 and original Xbox.

The first Rage game for the iPhone will be a small “show-off” sort of title, with a larger game due out next year to coincide with the big game’s release.

Per DigiTimes, overseas component suppliers have started rumors of a number of new products coming from Apple in the next year, including a new Apple TV running iOS and powered by an AMD Fusion processor, a 7″ iPad, a CDMA iPhone, and a new 9.7″ iPad with a Cortex-A9 processor and 512MB of RAM in 2011.

DigiTimes went somewhat overboard on Monday, reporting a lengthy list of potential future hardware from Apple. The site made mention of a Verizon-compatible CDMA iPhone expected to start production in December, piggybacking on rumors that resurfaced over the weekend, claiming the iPhone 4 will debut on the Verizon network in the U.S. in January 2011.

“Pegatron is expected to start mass production in December and will supply to both US-based Verizon Wireless and China-based China Telecom,” the report said. “The CDMA iPhone’s back plate will be forged from metal materials and will feature an integrated antenna.”

Sources also indicated to the publication that Apple will upgrade its 9.7″ iPad to an ARM Cortex-A9-based processor, and also add 512MB of RAM in the first quarter of 2011. The current model has 256MB or RAM and a custom A4 processor based on the Cortex-A8 design.

The report also rekindled rumors of a smaller iPad with a 7″ screen. The report claimed that the hardware will also sport a Cortex-A9-based processor, and like the 9.7-inch model, will have an LCD panel with in-plane switching technology and a resolution of 1,024-by-768 pixels.

Finally, the report also claimed that the Cupertino, Calif., company is working on a new Apple TV powered by AMD’s Fusion package, dubbed an “accelerated processing unit,” or APU. AMD’s yet-to-be-released hybrid processor combines the CPU and GPU functions into one package. The ARM-based chips found in Apple’s iPhone and iPad already accomplish similar functions with low power consumption.

AMD touts that its forthcoming Fusion product will offer strong HD, 3D and data-intensive performance on the single-die processor. “APUs combine high-performance serial and parallel processing cores with other special-purpose hardware accelerators, enabling breakthroughs in visual computing, security, performance-per-watt and device form factor,” the company said.

DigiTimes claimed that the new Apple TV will switch to “a user interface similar to the iPhone with support for social networking websites, network multimedia and the App Store. Mass production of the device will start in December.”

Aside from the inclusion of an AMD processor, the rumors largely reiterate what was stated in May by assorted web sites. That report indicated that Apple would release a new product that would offer 1080P cloud-based content streaming for just US$99. However, it indicated that the device would run on a custom-built A4 processor, just like the iPad and iPhone 4.

Following up on yesterday’s story about wireless carrier China Unicom selling Apple’s iPhone with Wi-Fi capabilities, Wen Baoqiu, a spokesman for China Unicom, has announced that starting Monday the Beijing-based telecom operator will offer an 8-gigabyte model of the iPhone 3GS with Wi-Fi capability. 16- and 32-gigabyte versions without Wi-Fi will continue to be available as well.

Per AppleInsider, prior to the initial launch of the iPhone in October 2009, China temporarily banned the IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi standard in an effort to promote its alternative WAPI standard. The ban was relaxed in May 2009, but not before manufacturing of the China-specific iPhone had already begun.

China Unicom’s iPhone launch sold just 5,000 handsets in its first 4 days, the lack of Wi-Fi being seen as a flaw. With this, the official iPhone struggled to gain momentum against a well-developed Chinese ‘gray market,’ which offered full-featured imported iPhones. Sales of the China Unicom iPhone eventually picked up, reaching 100,000 units in December.

In July, Chinese regulators posted an approval notice of a Wi-Fi iPhone, although the approval appeared to be for the iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS, not the iPhone 4. Chinese consumers seeking to obtain an iPhone 4 will have to look to Hong Kong, where it was released on July 30th, while they wait for a mainland release date.

A series of leaked photo illustrations supposedly obtained from iPod case manufacturers show a new version of the iPod touch with a camera and flash.

Per a leaked image on HardMac, the English language version of France’s Macbidouille, the next generation iPod touch in shown in a clear case. The website claims the source of the image is “very reliable.” The image appears to show a rounded back with a rear-facing camera and flash.

A rounded back would be a clear departure from the design of the iPhone 4, which has a flat glass back.

According to the web site, the source has been reliable in the past, correctly confirming the inclusion of a camera on last year’s iPod nano. Technical issues have been cited as the reason for the lack of a camera on last year’s iPod touch model.

Although rumors of a camera-enabled iPod touch have persisted for several years, the June unveiling of Apple’s FaceTime video call feature for the iPhone 4 served to strengthen the rumors. At that time, CEO Steve Jobs expressed plans to make the feature an “open industry standard” that works between different devices. When speculating which devices are likely to adopt the FaceTime standard, many analysts have kept the iPod touch at the top of their lists.

Reports from “supplier” sources corroborate the iPod touch camera rumor, although the details don’t always match. In July, U.K. retailer John Lewis claimed the next iPod touch will have a 5 megapixel camera, while the Taiwanese publication Digitimes cited sources predicting a 3 megapixel camera.

Either way, this will probably be resolved upon the new iPod touch’s release, which is expected to occur sometime in September.

Per Macworld UK, Chinese law is set to change, allowing wireless carrier China Unicom to sell iPhones with Wi-Fi capabilities later this month.

A spokesman with the iPhone carrier China Unicom said the company will start offering the 8GB iPhone 3GS with Wi-Fi support possibly by the end of the week, offering no further details beyond this. The Chinese media, however, has reported that the handset will be released on August 9th and that the device will cost 4999 renminbi (US$736) under a 24-month contract plan that includes the product.

Apple was originally forced to drop Wi-Fi support from its iPhones when the device was introduced to the mainland market. At the time Chinese regulators required all handsets to use the domestically developed wireless LAN security protocol known as WAPI (WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure).

But last month, regulators issued a license for an Apple iPhone with Wi-Fi support using the WAPI security protocol. Apple would not comment on China Unicom’s release of the iPhone, said company spokeswoman Carolyn Wu.

As for the possibility of the iPhone 4 being sold in China in the near future, China Unicom said it has no news regarding the matter.

The super cool cats at the iPhone Dev Team have posted ultrasn0w 1.0-1, an update of its unlocking utility. The release is the first to unlock the iPhone 4, in addition to the iPhone 3G and 3GS. iPhone 4s must be on the 01.59 baseband, while the 3G and 3GS must be using 04.26.08, 05.11.07, 05.12.01 or 05.13.04.

Per MacNN, the new ultrasn0w is being distributed through Cydia, an on-device platform for unofficial apps. To install Cydia, however, people must first jailbreak an iPhone 4 using JailbreakMe. As the website is believed to be based on a PDF exploit, Apple is likely to interrupt jailbreaking with a future iOS release, probably iOS 4.1.

Stay tuned for additional details and if you’ve unlocked your iPhone 4 and can offer any feedback as to the experience, let us know.

The good news: The third beta of iOS 4.1 is out and progress is being made towards the final version.

The bad news: Neither the iPhone 3G or second-generation iPod touch devices will be compatible with Apple’s Game Center application upon its release.

Per AppleInsider, sources close to the story stated that a pre-release build seeded to developers on Tuesday, has dropped support for Game Center for older handset models. In previous builds, the iPhone 3G and second-generation iPod touch were capable of running Game Center.

Those familiar with the latest build said Apple’s release notes did not indicate whether this was a permanent change, or a temporary one just for this beta. It simply stated that Game Center is “no longer supported” on the older hardware.

The loss of support was reportedly one of a number of changes made to the GameKit API found in iOS 4.1. In addition to a number of bug fixes, the latest update is also said to have added support for the achievements API, which will allow gamers to receive virtual awards for completing tasks in games.

Game Center has been touted by Apple as a major new feature of iOS 4, aiming to provide a centralized experience for gamers on the iPhone and iPod touch. Similar to Microsoft’s Xbox Live, the social gaming network will allow gamers to see what their friends are playing, challenge them to an online match, or compare scores in specific titles.

In addition, the GameKit application programming interface allows developers to integrate their titles into the Game Center social network. The service will be opt-in for developers, who will not be forced to make their software a part of Game Center. But Apple officials believe it will be beneficial for application makers to integrate their games, because the service will allow a greater experience for users.

Apple is reportedly investigating complaints from users that iOS 4 runs very slow on its iPhone 3G handset.

Per the Wall Street Journal, complaints from iPhone 3G users began to surface soon after iOS 4 was released, but those complaints were quickly overshadowed by the iPhone 4′s antenna woes. With the antenna crisis behind them, Apple is now investigating how iOS 4 runs on the iPhone 3G.

User complaints have ranged from slowdowns to having the iPhone 3G almost unusable after upgrading to iOS 4. A number of users have commented that they’re also tried a complete restore of the iPhone 3G, with varying results.

The problems with iOS 4 do not appear to affect the faster iPhone 3GS or the iPhone 4.

Ok, this has to be the part where someone at Apple finally slams their head against the desk and wishes to just go home and snuggle up with a blanket and a cup of cocoa for the rest of the day.

Per AppleInsider, some users of iOS 4 on both the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS say their handset has constantly dropped wireless Bluetooth connections with both headsets and in-car systems.

Numerous users contacted the publication to report a number of problems specific to iOS 4 with Bluetooth connectivity. A number of people who upgraded their iPhone 3GS found that their phone’s Bluetooth became problematic, even though it worked fine before the iOS 4 update. And others who bought a new iPhone 4 have encountered some of the same issues.

“Nearly every time I’m in my car the iPhone disconnects from the built-in Bluetooth system,” one reader with an iPhone 4 wrote. “This never, ever happened with my 3G phone. I have a case number with AppleCare and they refuse to acknowledge the problem or replace the phone, even after having the problem persist after downloading a fresh copy of IOS 4, reinstalling the software and setting the phone up bare with no other apps. Could this be another antenna problem?”

In numerous threads on the official Apple Discussions forums, users have shared similar problems (1, 2, 3, 4).

Users have said that their Bluetooth connections will sporadically drop after the two devices are successfully paired. Others can connect, but are met with a message that says “no media found” when trying to play music. And some said they have experienced muffled voices when placing a call over Bluetooth.

A number of users on the forums noted that the recent iOS 4.0.1 update did not fix the Bluetooth issues. The minor update featured a cosmetic fix that changed how the iPhone reports bars of signal strength.

The Bluetooth pairing issues are said to exist across a range of devices, including vehicles from Mercedes-Benz and BMW, car stereos from Pioneer and Alpine, and headsets from Motorola and Jawbone.

Some said they have fixed the problem by resetting the phone’s settings. This can be done by launching the Settings application, choosing General, Reset, and Reset All Settings. Interestingly, the same fix was said to work for some who experienced issues with the proximity sensor on the iPhone 4. Apple has said it is working on a software fix for the proximity sensor problems with the iPhone 4, but has made no mention of the reported Bluetooth problems.

Stay tuned for additional details as they become available and if you’ve seen this issue from your end, let us know.